% do work. they just don't make enough money. the government decided under ronald reagan at first, give them a tax credit. in other words, send them a tax -- >> incentivize them to work. >> ryan knows this but he's just pandering to the worst instincts of his audience. >> martin, i don't know how -- or what goes through someone like -- the head of someone like paul ryan where he isn't going to accept the framework of that proposition, which has been so damaging. really a sensible candidate wouldn't try and accept the premise of the question. he'd try and explain it. he'd say, this is where we want to move the country. not about work, but it's been so damaging to sort of accept it and engage in it and embrace it, it is such a losing proposition. even the research from his own campaign must tell him that. >> john, you have previously remarked to me on the fact you regard paul ryan as a smart man. a man that understands numbers. that 47% tape has been out there for almost three weeks and he's making that kind of comment yesterday. is he really that smart? >> well, he's very smart on

work. it didn't work when george w. bush provided that big tax break. it did not help when ronald reagan --eagamicsas presumed to create a lot of wealth for the middle class? no. the median wage began to stagnate. trickle down economics is a complete fraud. >> to professor reich's point, he says he thinks that perception is getting thrgh to thelectate. "washingtopost w tio nehese live and they interviewed voters there, and the thing that kept coming up for voters is romney is for th millionaires. people are getting that message. they're understanding at a basic level what the professors saying there. the thinghat's so strange to , wead ts d ie coy,e had this idea, we'll have unrestrained capitalism, which generally leads to these sorts of concentrations of wealth that we've seen, but on the other hand we'll have bigger profits and wean better take care of the people who are lling behind. well, now that we have the ntcuttet net.capitalism, ty the ryan budget, 62% of the cuts from programs that benefit the poor. so you're having this huge accumulation of wealth and then you're cutti

rhino in this republican party. the irony doting on the ghost of ronald reagan is he could not have survived in the current iteration of the republican party. ronald reagan said no to war with the soviet union. ronald reagan actually said yes to reducing the number of nuclear weapons in both sides arsenal's. ronald reagan was a figure almost more comfortable in barack obama's democratic party and his wing -- >> don't say that too loudly. >> check your twitter feed. >> just exploded. >> we have to take a break but we are waiting for the president to speak at the clinton global initiative. meanwhile, president obama and governor romney also spoke at nbc's education nation summit. big times. we will discuss their remarks. also paul ryan weighs in on the last night's nfl controversy and brings it back to, guess who, president obama. all of that is next on "now." want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions.

back to point. the way ronald reagan did in his debate against jimmy carter. people don't remember all the facts and figures, the recitation of the facts and figures, they remember a significant line or a significant phrase that brings them back to reality. >> senator john mccain is the only man who has debated both of these individuals. he weighed in on the expectations this morning. take a listen. >> serve and provide us -- >> it's not just that they go bankrupt, he doesn't understand -- >> comments that grabbed everybody's attention. because frankly, the candidates are too well prepared. they're well scripted. >> what you did not hear the beginning there, is the senator said i think you're going to see more viewers, than any debate in history. and then he also said he can't remember the last time that any of these things affected the outcome of a presidential race. save 1960 and 2000, have the debates ever really impacted the outcome of a race, chris kofinis? >> it's funny, i hear the debate about debates not necessarily mattering. and i actually disagree with that i think the 1

overscripted. that is what happened to ronald reagan in 1984 debate with walter mondale. it overran the persona of ronald reagan. next debate he was much more relaxed. roger ails did a great job preparing him and did much better job. same thing with governor romney. he has to know how to answer the questions but he has to be relaxed and rely on himself. one of the things i tell candidates it's very important that they have the good political judgment to make decisions and think on their feet rather than rely on script. >> give me one thing that you think we ought to look for out of mitt romney and one thing out of obama in this debate coming up on wednesday. >>> i think one of the -- apart from the economy, i do think one thing we should be looking for is to see if the president is willing to talk about his record on the economy and defend it. the american people ought to be making a judgment whether or not the president can defend that record. he ought to be looking for governor romney how well he press the case against the president. it's been his failure to lead on the economy that h

1980, what were people looking for? ronald reagan, can he stand on the stage with president carter? will he seem presidential? we sometimes forget that president obama is the president. he'll be sharing that space. in many ways, that's the biggest and first calculation that people make. they will say, could he, governor romney, that is, have that role or not. >> and does he belong on that stage in the first place and then does he look presidential? and you're right, because ronald reagan was an actor in many people's minds, even though he was governor of california. and then they were stunned when he walked on that stage and said, i agree with most of reagan's policies but he seemed presidential. >> right. and he didn't stumble and then he was calm. he felt -- he felt like he deserved to be there. i think one of the things that governor romney has to do is not only share that he deserves to be there but that he has some substan, more than people realize. >> substantial and national review reports that romney's team thinks it's critical that romney endure himself to the american peo

became. the big issue, big change began in 198 1980 that goes with the election of ronald reagan ronald reagan brought with them to washington a very underrated figure in a recent american history, somehow i don't think gets his due as an important person. that's edwin meese because edwin meese at first was in flash and then attorney general. said look, there has been a liberal agenda at the supreme court. there needs to be a conservative agenda at the supreme court. what was that agenda? expand executive power and end racial preferences, speed up execution, welcome religion into the public sphere, and above all, reverse roe v. wade and allow states once again to ban abortion. a big part of the reagan revolution was the arrival of washington of a group of young and committed conservative lawyers who wanted to work in that, on behalf of that agenda, who were two of the best and the brightest of that group? john roberts and samuel alito. 1970 -- in 1985, a memo at the solicitor general's office, alito wrote what can be made of this opportunity to advance the goal of bringing about the eve

ronald reagan and i knew ronald reagan. i mean, you know, it's absolutely crazy. today we're going to have an nfl football game. can you imagine the opposing team giving the other team the playbook? i mean, he doesn't have that many plays in the book to begin with and now here your advisers are, in essence, giving the obama administration -- giving the obama debate team the play that they are going to run as if this president isn't going to be prepared to counter anything. i don't know what kind of campaign they are running and the last thing i would do is publicize my strategy in the first debate. >> i think you're right. >> the only thing i think more alarming about publishing your strategy before the debate is that they are going at what has been a weak point of mr. romney. i mean, just this week he's had to defend himself against accusation that he's been fast and loose with facts. look at this. >> we've been absolutely spot on and any time there's been anything amiss, we correct it or remove it. >> so the fact that the media has called him on things that seem to be full of falseh

behind, as it shifts further and further, leaving a legacy of barry goldwater and ronald reagan behind. democrats, pay attention. this is your chance to build a party back up to that grand coalition of the new deal and new frontier years. why on earth wouldn't you? >>> that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. >>> good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 41 days until the 2012 election and only seven days until the first presidential debate. mitt romney is telling nbc news, the race is tied. really? well, tonight we'll reintroduce the romney campaign to the concept of arithmetic. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. >> president obama and i both care about poor and middle class families. the difference is, my policies will make things better for them. >> mitt romney is still trying to clean up his 47% problem and america isn't buying it.

how bad the government is. i voted for ronald reagan in 1980. i do have a disclaimer. i was drunk that day. but he made -- you know, ronald reagan, one thing he did was he made people distrust their government. and really a lot of people hate their government. because of -- >> now, mud cat, let me ask you a question. let me ask you a question. i didn't want to cut you off. but i have to get to you because i don't want to run out of time on you and steve. i've been waiting all day because i knew you were coming on. i've looked at the polls and i understand group after group the president's establishing a commanding lead. latinos up 45 points. he leads women by 19 points. catholics by 15 points. all of them i could understand given the policy positions of this campaign. but here's one that is right down your alley to explain to me. romney is losing the nascar base, the nascar base. obama leads romney 49-42 among nascar enthusiasts, according to the new zogby poll. can you explain that? >> because thurston howell doesn't drive a car. it's that simple. nascar is a down home sport. eli

center. we will miss him. ronald reagan called williams a national treasure. he recorded 18 gold and tee platinum rords with hs incling "canse losing you," he owned and operated the moon river theater in branson and fans have taken to twitter to say good-bye to our friend. andy williams. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf's pizza palace gets the mt rewards pizza!!!!! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve the most rewards! awesom choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a stunning work of technology. introducing the entirely newex es. and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. and the first-ever es hybrid. hey america, even though slisa rinna is wearing the new depe siluette ito prove how great the fit is even under a fantastic dress. the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear

and when did it happen? >> ronald reagan. >> you got it. >> ronald reagan, 1980. >> '84. >> that's right. i think you both get a sticker for that one. ronald reagan in 1984 and obviously, he was at the time 73. he was running against mondale who was 56. cleaned mondale's clock. age was not used against reagan. >>> parker is back. >> nothing but a number. >> nothing but a number. parker is back for the second one. >> i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> jamaal. >> lloyd benson in the vice presidential debate and you remembered it was lloyd benson. good job. >> nerdland for a reason. >> what state, jamaal? >> he was from texas. >> does anybody remember what dan quayle said in response? >> he said that's uncalled for. >> that's exactly it. >> crawl under the podium. >> after the laughing subsided in the crowd. >> that was a pretty good one. >> i think that's my best. >> he's being polite. he's not hitting his bell until she is through. >> here's the next parker video. >> george bush taking credit for the berlin wall coming down is

carter debate with ronald reagan where he said there you go again, calling the sitting president a liar basically. that's when carter started collapsing. you've got a few moments to make the one-liners catch and stick. all of the substance will get lost in the minutia. romney needs one worse than the president right now. >> instead of o owe is it like trying to figure out what the zinger is going to be that will get retweeted on a hash tag? >> yes, that it is. >> it makes me so sad. >> well, yes. as you said, the stakes are higher for mitt romney. keep this mind, this is a man who has been running for president for six years. >> right. >> it's come down to this one moment, this first debate on wednesday where he's got to change the trajectory of his campaign, of the narrative with at that point, what is it 35 days in the race. >>> yeah. >> you're the political scientist here. you're the nerd here at the table. just to my mind, i do not see how practically speaking mitt romney can change the trajectory and move his campaign into a positive position with so little time. >> you're a big ne

next one repeated many times. it came from ronald reagan during his debate with jimmy carter. reagan posed a simple question. >> are you better off than you were four years ago? >> four years later president reagan was 73 facing concerns about his age, an issue compounded by his shaky first debate and then turned the weakness into a strength with this line. >> i want you to know that also i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. >> bill clinton was on the other side of that equation while debating another 73 year old. this one was former senator bob dole. clinton handled the issue this way. >> i don't think senator bill is too old to be president. it's the age of his ideas that i question. >> so we'll have to wait and see if there is a memorable moment tonight that can shape the final month of the race. sometimes it is a one liner. sometimes it is a facial expression. >>> white house soup of the day. that is good soup. i wish i were eating it today. coconut shrimp. you are watching "the daily

performance such as ronald reagan's in 1980. here is the truth about obama and romney, neither a stellar debater. obama didn't shine in the democratic primary debates, biden won them. that's why obama picked biden. candidate obama had a tendency to ramble in the debates, got better during mccain one on ones. while romney did well in this season's gop debates, had rough performances, bet you $10,000 he did. romney performances, the unspoken body language that the camera captured, they were brutal against ted kennedy. ivy league will enjoy biden versus ryan more. trust me. >>> turning back to the brand new battleground polls. there's a different pattern emerging, president obama is ahead in new hampshire, tighter in nevada and north carolina. joining me, director of the marist poll. good to see you in person. >> welcome to the home of the new york yankees. >> you're going to blow the playoff run. >> i am worried. >> we want the beltway series in washington. we have been looking at this as sort of the generic, the general all nine states. what is your take away? >> i think what you'

update of the ronald reagan welfare mean, same racialized politics mitt romney has been playing for the last eight, ten months. this is the -- the welfare requirement, the idea the president is abolishing it, he is taking a gop prescription for reforming welfare and putting it in place, which is giving more power to the states. you know, the details of that, the fact that tons of things the president has embraced are actually rooted in conservative ideology has been a completely lost or disavowed by the republican party. i mean, they -- mitt romney has to win 60% of white voters and will stop at nothing to shore up every white vote he can. and that includes playing to the lowest card in the deck, which is incredibly racially charged, incendiary rhetoric designed to stoke hatred and fulmen, i guess, enthusiasm to get folks out to the polls. >> gene, look at this. every time i see this, i see it infrequently, i cry. i've been accused of being too emotional about politics. four years ago, john mccain stood up to a supporter who called then-senator obama an arab. here's his instantaneou

always remembers the great zingers. you know, usually something from ronald reagan, but here we go again expecting that people are going to try a little bit too hard. there's a real danger when you've been supplied with premixed, ready-made zingers to insert into the debate that mitt romney will insert them at the wrong time or say them not quite right. the only thing worse than having no zinger is having a zinger that comes off badly and comes back to bite you. so i think that's a perilous way to go, but i'll be there in denver, and i look forward to the attempts because it will make it far more interesting. >> indeed. we're delighted, ron, that you're here. you have devealed to us for the first time that you have prepped with mitt romney previously. >> i have. >> tell us a little bit about that. >> well, it was a remarkable experience. it was the 2008 campaign when he was running in the primaries. he assembled a smart group of folks to go up and run him through the paces. that was in anticipation of the first debate on msnbc mott rated by chris matthews. each person had a role, i was t

by substance. remember, walter mondale was creaming ronald reagan in that 1984 debate they had and reagan turned it around. and the only line you remember from the night was something to the effect of "i'm not going to make age an issue in this campaign, i will not use my opponent's youth and inexperience as a political issue." and everybody laughed, including mondale, and it won reagan the debate. or in the 1980 debate where ronald reagan kept saying to jimmy carter "there you go again." a great line. well said. >> jimmy says obama wants to have a substantive debate. is there a worry that he could get too deep into the issues? >> no, because of the timeframe. they're 15-minute segments. they'll go back and forth. it's not set up. they won't have the chance to go way into it deep. >> that's my worry, that you come out of this with no substance. i want substance. >> if i'm a candidate running for the presidency of the united states, what i really care about are the undecides, the people who have not yet made up their mind. those are the folks that are going to swing this election. s

happened to ronald reagan in the debate with walter mondale. he had been wounded with information and overran the persona. the next debate he was much more relaxed and roger ailes, the leader of your network did a great job preparing him and he did a much better job. the same rings true with governor romney. he has to know what he needs to do to abe the questions and he has to be relaxed and rely on himself. i tell candidates that it's very important that they have the good political judgment, good political instincts to make good decisions rather than relying on a script. >> quickly, bret, gef me one thing we ought to look for out of mitt romney and out of obama in this debate coming up on wednesday. >> you know, i think apart from the economy, i think that the one thing we should be looking for is to see if the president is willing to talk about his record on the economy and defend it. now, the american people ought to be making a judgment about whether or not the president can defend that record. we ought to be looking for from governor romney how well he prosecutors the case a

, but you have to be ronald reagan and do a there you go again and make something of that in the ensuing campaign and also outside events, obviously, iran, the hostage situation was fatally damaging to jimmy carter. but -- >> you can only make the case that really three presidential elections of the modern elections, the debates really played an important role. 1980 was one of those. >> 1960. >> 1960 and probably gerald ford's election where he said that the eastern europe was not -- or poland was not dominated by the soviet union, made some difference in a close election. but this is going to be a close election. in spite of what you see in some of the polls, some are close now, the fundamental dynamics of this race are quite close and so its could make a difference in this race. >> thank you so much. >>> up next, is iraq unraveling? a look at where the u.s. policy stands now, next on "andrea mitchell reports." we make a simple thing. a thing that helps you buy other things. but plenty of companies do that. so we make something else. we help make life a little easier, more conve

. >> ronald reagan knew the way he looked from every single direction so that when he made a gesture on camera he knew how that would come across on tv. for that carter was no match. >> okay. let's take a look at the chart we just brought up there from gallup. it shows how polls changed over the course of the debates in some of the most memorable elections. have any races in your estimation, michael, been won or lost solely in the debates? >> well, aside from the reagan-carter -- that was a special case because there was only one. it was ten days before. you showed the beginning, alex, of that terrible faux-pas saying the -- gerald ford probably would have won it without that faux-pas. >>> the numbers here for 1960. we had john f. kennedy who gained three percentage points after that performance that he gave while richard nixon continuously lost ground thereafter. the story goes that it was kennedy's tan, his youthful look that won him the first televised debate. do you think that's the full story? >> i think that's part of an lore. i think much more was this. before that first debate john ken

about ronald reagan. msnbc, they converted the scott brown, our beloved scott brown versus elizabeth warren that she checked off falsely that she is cherokee. she has the lowest requirements of any professor of any of the top law schools. she refuses to release that information. everyone knows she stole someone else's. she is -- he is being attacked to raise the issue. he is attacking for her being a cherokee. no. it's exactly the opposite. it's about not being a cherokee and she is related not to cherokee but to a white enforcer to trail of tears. she is stealing the suffering of native americans to teach from harvard law school and you wouldn't know that from listening to msnbc. >> your book is you say, how liberals have played the race card historically you believe to win black voters? >> for a hundred years they denounced black people to win a segment of the white vote,. now, they are still using race to win votes not only from black people. keep telling them republicans hate them but from white people who don't want to feel racist. it isn't any white guilt on their part. when th

all the time. i talked about tip o'neill and ronald reagan of the 1980s. didn't see eye to eye. they got things done. '90s you and bill clinton. a fascinating character. you guys obviously didn't see eye to eye. you got things done. and bill clinton is having a huge impact in this race. rich lowry of course of the national review said if you want to see when this election turned it was in the middle of bill clinton's speech. this guy still -- you said something about georgia ads. what was that? >> i was told last night by randy evans who is the national committeeman from georgia that there are more ads in georgia for obama with clinton in them than there are with obama in them. which makes sense. you know, bill clinton is the best political figure in terms of skill since ronald reagan. >> right. >> that's just a fact. >> right. >> and his ability to communicate, i thought his speech, which i had to watch, i actually didn't watch the obama speech. >> right. >> i watched the clinton speech. i thought it would be more creative, more interesting. and it turned out to be a lot more import

silent. there was when ronald reagan called the soviet union the evil empire. if iran gets nuclear weapons, that needs to be prevented. you have worries about, particularly in syria, chemical weapons stockpiles. you have the attacks on our consulates in libya and egypt and elsewhere a rumble world. -- around the world. this is why it is a dangerous and so wrong to be playing these political games with our armed services. we need to be strong. we need to have a strong economy and to have a strong national defense, but the last thing that we need is having these devastating cuts to our military readiness. we have to stop these devastating cuts, come together, said the right priorities, and make sure that the men and women that are protecting our safety and freedom and our elections here have the best armament and equipment and making sure we keep those good paying jobs in technology and defense here in virginia and not use them as a creating businesses. >> governor kaine, one minute. >> let me just go to the last point. nobody is talking about using the military or veterans as pawns.

-- favor president has been ronald reagan, because he preached basically strength is the best way to handle our adversaries. the second book is the bob woodward book, showing obama's lack of confidence. a non-negotiator who is over his head completely. the third reference, every fair minded american should see a, 2016, "obama's america." everyone should see it. when i was at the movie, my wife is a very liberal teacher, and people were standing up singing god bless america. people are scared stiff of obama. host: one last call, darlene. caller: i would like to say that i am very disappointed in obama. that he does not talk to these foreign leaders. he has hillary do it. is that not sad? he does not do it, hillary has to do his work. he lies about the foreign wars over there. that is what i call them, because of of fighting. he does not do anything about it. there is one other question i would like to less -- how much is it costing the taxpayers to pay for all of the trips that michelle obama takes, flying all over the country about her sugar and her obesity? when she went over to the

peace through strength which he borrows from ronald reagan. during the reagan administration, our embassy and marine barracks were bombs in beirut. and the last time these folks were in charge -- and believe me, it would be the same folks running the foreign policy establishment if you elected mitt romney -- these folks led us into the most disastrous foreign policy decision in a generation which was the invasion of iraq. it empowered iran, it created a trillion dollars of debt charged on the national credit card, it killed more than 4,000 americans, it wounded more than 30,000, it left hundreds of thousands of iraqis dead or displaced. and yet these folks want us to hand the keys of foreign policy back to them? it's, it's -- i mean, the nerve of the individuals who drug us into the worst foreign policy disaster in the middle east in a generation, to say that they somehow understand this region better is, it's laughable, frkly. >> well, you mentioned syria. how -- there's a lot of pressure for the administration to get more involved in syria. how do you think the administration is